Pioneer Trucking Co. Files for Bankruptcy

SEATTLE AP is reporting that Consolidated Freightways Corp., a 73-year-old trucking company, said Monday it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and laying off 15,500 people around the country.

The Vancouver, Wash., company's stock had tumbled since it requested an extension in filing its second-quarter earnings two weeks ago and announced that it might be de-listed from the Nasdaq stock market.

In the first quarter this year, Consolidated Freightways lost $36.5 million on $463 million in revenue. The company lost $104.3 million last year and $7.6 million in 2000.

In letters being mailed to workers Tuesday, the company said it simply didn't have enough money to continue operations.

``We expected that recent discussions with our banks, other lenders and real estate investors would enable us to obtain significant additional financial resources,'' the letters said. ``Unfortunately, this has not been the case.''

Hundreds of employees showed up for work at Consolidated Freightways offices Monday, only to find the offices locked. In a recorded telephone message, Chief Executive John Brincko told them not to show up Tuesday.

``Thank you for dialing in on this holiday weekend. I hope you and your family are enjoying the time together,'' said Brincko, who was named chief executive three months ago. ``I have some extremely urgent and sad news to share with you today. ... Your employment ends immediately.''

About 15,500 workers would be affected, the company said, with more than 80 percent receiving termination notices immediately. The remaining supervisory and management positions were to be phased out quickly.

The company said it planned to file for bankruptcy protection Tuesday.

Operations of the company's CF AirFreight and Canadian Freightways Ltd. subsidiaries would continue normally without layoffs.

Carlos N. Ramos, a spokesman for Teamsters Local 776 in Harrisburg, Pa., said workers felt the Labor Day layoffs were ``a slap in the face.''

``That's like telling your wife you're getting divorced on Valentine's Day,'' Ramos said.

Charles A. Perrin, 57, of Sturgis, Mich., said the closing did not surprise him because the company had informed workers of its serious financial problems.

``I wasn't thinking anything good about it,'' said Perrin, a driver at the terminal in Elkart, Ind. ``A lot of others were hoping it would be different.''

Consolidated Freightways billed itself at the nation's third-largest ``less-than-truckload'' carrier, meaning it sought partial shipments from multiple companies, loaded them together and trucked them throughout North America.

It has 350 terminals and 30,000 trucks in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The company's stock traded on the Nasdaq stock market at more than $18 in early 1999, but closed at just 71 cents Friday.

The country's largest less-than-truckload carrier is Yellow Corp. of Overland Park, Kan., followed by Roadway Corp. of Akron, Ohio.